Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. ( NASDAQ: ERTS ), has announced that “Bring Down the Sky,” the first piece of downloadable content for the award-winning space epic Mass Effect[1]™, is now available for owners of the PC game version to download free of charge.

Fully optimized for the PC, “Bring Down the Sky” is the first in a series of planned downloadable content that will further expand the Mass Effect story and universe. It includes a new uncharted world that introduces the deadly Batarian alien race, approximately 90 minutes of new gameplay and an original soundtrack. Instructions on how to download and install the new content are available on the Mass Effect downloadable content page[2]. “Bring Down the Sky” is currently available for international languages including English, Spanish, Italian and German, with additional language versions coming soon.

The storyline for the new content begins as Batarian extremists have hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Only Commander Shepard can save the millions of innocent civilians before the asteroid completes its deadly descent.

Originally released for the Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system, “Bring Down the Sky” has received critical acclaim as one of the “must have” downloadable expansion packs. Mass Effect has also received critical acclaim throughout the world with more than 80 awards[3] including Console Game of the Year and Role-Playing Game of the Year, with the PC version achieving several perfect 10/10 scores and an overall review average of over 90%, according to gamerankings.com and metacritic.com, as of July 24, 2008.

PC gamers can download and install “Bring Down the Sky” by simply launching their registered copy of Mass Effect for the PC and following the instructions at the launch screen.